Brand new "Hours of Service" Changes May Hurt Nationwide Transportation
http://blog.freightaccess.com/?p=312 : Brand-new "Hours of Service" Adjustments May Hurt Nationwide Transportation Trucking companies accustomed to letting drivers haul goods all night may face federal restrictions that would curb the practice and might add almost $2 billion to the industry's annual operating costs. The current rules as being considered would affect almost two million long-haul truck drivers by cutting an hour of driving time per day. Many groups have come forth to challenge this proposed law. The American Trucking Association (ATA) has announced it may challenge the legislation as currently being considered. If enacted, the rules may cost the industry as much as $1.8 billion yearly, according to a Government analysis. Among the companies that would be hardest hit are so-called truckload carriers which move goods from a single shipper in each truck from one point to another. The trucking association puts the cost at $2.2 billion a year, citing a 2007 analysis by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency that proposed the changes. The agency is required to publish a final rule by July 26. Truck driver work time, or productivity, may fall as much as 5 percent if the brand-new rules take effect, according to the Government analysis. Experts have given an estimate of $1 billion for the annual cost to the industry, which it said was one-half of 1 percent of its annual revenue. That estimate was lower than the 2007 one because analysts used "better data" about driver work patterns, the number of drivers affected and economic assumptions including inflation, said Duane DeBruyne, a spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The United States Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood had said while he announced the proposed legislation that a fatigued driver has no place behind the wheel of a freight semi truck. Lahood went on to say that the FMCSA is committed to an hours-of-service rule that should help create an environment where commercial truck drivers are rested, alert along with focused on safety while driving. The increased costs may end up being passed on to consumers of goods that are shipped by truck, ranging from toilet paper to produce to car parts, the trucking regulator said in its new proposed rule. Small trucking businesses may be disproportionately affected given the nature of an industry where 70 percent of companies have five or fewer trucks. Most truck drivers rely on their dispatch teams to set everyone's driving schedule. Truck Drivers work around everyone else's schedules to make deliveries. If a driver is unloading and he's half unloaded when the 13-hour time limit comes up, the driver doesn't have the option of shutting the doors and saying 'Well, now I'm going to take my break.' Drivers are essentially in a difficult situation. This recent legislation is just one the most recent pushes by the FMCSA to enact laws aimed at safety but which have complete disregard for the tremendous impact these types of brand new restrictions will have on the marketplace. Full article here: http://blog.freightaccess.com/?p=312 SUMMARY |
|
